AIST Kashiwa

AIST Kashiwa was established on November 1, 2018, as a research base of AIST in the Kashiwa-no-ha area. In conjunction with the establishment of this base, “Human Augmentation Research Center” started its activities with the aim of promoting research to enhance human capabilities by utilizing information and robotics technologies to accompany people. Prior to that, “AI Bridging Cloud Infrastructure (ABCI)”, a high-performance AI cloud computing system, began full-scale operations on August 1, 2018. In addition, AIST Kashiwa had been used as one of the activity bases of “AIST Design School,” which aimed to foster co-creation leaders who will create the future society.

In April 2025, the “Research Institute on Human and Societal Augmentation” was established with the aim of extending the research activities of Human Augmentation Research Center into functional augmentation of society. At the same time, collaboration with multiple research units such as the “Integrated Research Center for Well-Being,” “Integrated Research Center for Self-Care Technology,” and “Sensing Technology Research Institute” has begun, strengthening its role as a research base that integrates research fields. Furthermore, on January 20, 2025, ABCI 2.0 was upgraded to ABCI 3.0. This upgrade improved peak performance by a factor of 7 to 13 compared to the previous system. The public provision of ABCI3.0 is expected to accelerate research and development, evaluation, and human resource development of cutting-edge AI technologies, including generative AI.

The Kashiwa-no-ha area, where AIST Kashiwa is located, is home to a concentration of research and educational institutions, including the University of Tokyo, Chiba University, and the National Cancer Center. AIST Kashiwa also participates in “Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City Consortium”, and the "Kashiwa-no-ha Life Science Frontier" as a partner organization of the "Urban Design Center Kashiwa-no-ha" (UDCK), and we are deepening our partnership with the communities.

Since its establishment in November 2018, AIST Kashiwa has promoted research on “human augmentation technology,” which enhances the capabilities of human beings while staying close to them. And in April 2025, we established “Research Institute on Human and Societal Augmentation “to expand its research scope to the augmentation of community and society functions. Furthermore, ABCI, AI Bridging Cloud Infrastructure that is the foundation of AI research, has been upgraded to ABCI 3.0, which is expected to contribute to research and development, evaluation, and human resource development of cutting-edge technologies including generative AI.

The implementation of cutting-edge technologies in society requires the cooperation of the human resources and partner organizations that support them. AIST Kashiwa aims to serve as a bridge between technology and society and will contribute to the creation of a better future while strengthening cooperation between industry, academia, government, and the private sector.